Translators

A fisherman named Andrew and his friend followed a teacher named John. Suddenly, John points to another man named Jesus and calls him the "Lamb of God." They left John and starting following Jesus (to John's delight!). After spending time with Jesus, Andrew decided his brother needed to listen to Him, too. We read in John 1:40-41:

40 Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed him. 41 This one first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which is translated “Christ”). 

There's a mine full of riches in this passage, but I want to focus on one phrase that is often ignored because it is surrounded by such phenomenal ideas. I want to dwell on just this: which is translated “Christ”.

The author of this Gospel, the Apostle John (not the same John who Andrew followed), is doing the reader a favor. Andrew told his brother Simon Peter that he thinks they found the Messiah, which John dutifully reports. The word Messiah was highly loaded with religious meaning for these Jewish men. In brought into the conversation all of the Old Testament hope, it opened up the possibility of a righteous and enduring kingdom, and it portended a great future. The Messiah was going to come and be the greatest king ever. The word Messiah means "anointed," referring to God's special designation and blessing on this one king.

John the author takes this word that has been transliterated from Hebrew and tells the reader the equivalent Greek word, Christ. Therefore, the Greek reader who may not have been familiar with a word based in Hebrew would still be able to follow along.

This, my friends, is our job. Our basic job is to translate Jesus to those around us. Jesus means so much to us, including a great deal of history that others may or may not be familiar with. Our job is to take the truth about this Jesus and translate it in ways that people can understand, but from within their context. How do we find ways to communicate the richness of Jesus so that people with a different history can know something amazing about Him?

This does not mean that we change Jesus, change His story, or change His Gospel. Nor does it mean that "being relevant" means that we say anything other than what Jesus says about Himself. We translate Messiah into Christ, not Messiah into Great and Kind Philosopher.

It does mean that we need to translate for those around us, and translate accurately, but in ways that are easy for them to understand.

We can translate with words, of course. But we can also translate effectively with our lives, by reflecting His character and values. That's kind of like using hand gestures when you're in a culture where you don't speak their language - we can still communicate.

Which is translated "Christ." See yourself as a translator, sent here for the rest of your life to translate, showing the same concern for those around you that John showed for his readers.